Buckeyes return 4 starters in Matta's 10th season

Nov. 3, 2013

Ohio State guard Lenzelle Smith Jr., left, celebrates with forward Sam Thompson during the second half of a March 28 West Region semifinal against Arizona at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY

Ohio State guard Lenzelle Smith Jr. shoots during the second half of the March 30 West Region final against Wichita State at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. / Richard Mackson/USA TODAY

After being around him for going on four years, Smith can just look at coach Thad Matta.

“You can tell when coach Matta is kind of falling back a little bit and is taking it easy,” Smith said, smiling. “And then you can tell when basketball season is coming around. Coach has a lot of juice, a lot of energy, he’s ready to get things underway.”

This year for a change, Matta doesn’t have to introduce a bunch of newcomers to college-level hoops.

Having lost eight players early to the NBA draft in his nine seasons with the Buckeyes, the Ohio State coach is accustomed to acquainting first-year players to the college game while plugging holes left by premature departures.

Deshaun Thomas, the Big Ten’s leading scorer, surrendered his senior season in the spring to be drafted in the second round by the San Antonio Spurs.

But Matta has a veteran crew back that includes two seniors and seven juniors from a 29-win team that came within a whisper of its second consecutive trip to the Final Four.

“We have a chance to have a really, really good basketball team,” said Matta, who is 250-73 with the Buckeyes and 352-104 in his 13 years as a head coach, also at Butler and Xavier. “I’ve loved the energy, the cohesiveness. It’s early. I’d say this: I’m very excited about the season.”

Here’s some things to watch for this season, which gets underway with an exhibition game today against Walsh:

Go-go guards

The Buckeyes return four starters, led by senior guards Aaron Craft and Smith, who have won 94 games in their career already.

Craft is a pesty defensive guard who opposing teams and fans despise for his physical play but is adored by Matta, Ohio State’s fans and his teammates. A pre-med major and academic whiz, he has been known to disrupt offenses with his quick hands and uncanny intuition.

He completely changed his inconsistent jump shot in the offseason.

“It just didn’t feel as smooth as it should have been,” he said. “Right now, we’re at a good position. We put in a lot of work.”

Smith also is a terrific defender, but is as likely to score four points in a game as he is 24. He’s got to be more dependable night after night.

Q factor

Thomas averaged 19.8 points per game and led the Big Ten in scoring. He also was not afraid to take a big shot.

LaQuinton Ross, a 6-foot-8 scorer who came alive in Ohio State’s NCAA run to a regional final in 2012-13, will be counted on to make up for a chunk of that lost offense.

“I don’t feel like it’s a lot on me right now,” said Ross, a junior who averaged 8.2 points per game in 2012-13. “We’ve got almost the whole team coming back. I think everybody is going to contribute this year. But I take it upon myself to try to make up for some of the scoring that we’re losing.”

Big enigma

Amir Williams, a brawny 6-11 McDonald’s All-American, has the skills to dominate inside but was often invisible in 2012-13. A starter the final 26 games, he averaged 3.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.

He claims he’s bigger and stronger this year, and he has figured out how to avoid foul trouble and being timid on the boards.

“Rebounding is a key for me this year that I need to focus on more,” he said. “Coach explained to me, my play is important this season so he can’t have me playing 10 to 12 minutes for the game because of foul trouble.”

Taking a step

Sam Thompson, a jumping-jack swingman, provides highlight-reel dunks but, like Smith, sometimes has blended into the background. He cannot afford to do that again this year.

Same for backup point guard Shannon Scott, a spectacular defender who never has been much of a shooter. If either develop into scoring threats, it’ll take the burden off the others and present real problems for a defense.

Built on 'D'

Last year’s team ran Matta’s record to 13 for 13 in terms of 20-win seasons as a head coach. They also won the Big Ten tournament.

Defense was the difference then, as it will be now.

“We’re never going to go away from our defense,” Matta said. “Those are the building blocks that you have.”